National Basketball League Teams by Year

A year-by-year look at the teams and franchise names that competed in the National Basketball League from 1937-38 through 1948-49.

NBL History NBL Teams Teams by Year

NBL Franchise Names by Season

The National Basketball League operated for 12 seasons from 1937-38 through 1948-49. Teams frequently changed cities, owners, sponsors and names, making the league's franchise history more complicated than the modern NBA.

A blank space indicates that the city did not have an NBL team under the name shown during that season.

City	1937-38	1938-39	1939-40	1940-41	1941-42	1942-43	1943-44	1944-45	1945-46	1946-47	1947-48	1948-49
Akron	Non-Skids Wingfoots	Non-Skids Wingfoots	Non-Skids Wingfoots	Non-Skids Wingfoots	Wingfoots
Anderson										Packers	Packers	Packers
Buffalo	Bisons
Chicago			Bruins	Bruins	Bruins	Studebaker Flyers		American Gears	American Gears	American Gears
Cincinnati	Comellos
Cleveland		White Horses					Chase Brassmen	Allmen Transfers	Allmen Transfers
Columbus		Athletic Supply
Dayton	Metropolitans											Rens
Denver												Nuggets
Detroit			Eagles	Eagles						Gems		Vagabond Kings
Flint											Dow A.C.'s
Fort Wayne	General Electrics				Zollner Pistons	Zollner Pistons	Zollner Pistons	Zollner Pistons	Zollner Pistons	Zollner Pistons	Zollner Pistons
Hammond		Ciesar All-Americans	Ciesar All-Americans	Ciesar All-Americans								Calumet Buccaneers
Indianapolis	Kautskys	Kautskys	Kautskys		Kautskys			Kautskys	Kautskys	Kautskys
Kankakee	Trojans
Midland											Dow A.C.'s
Minneapolis											Lakers
Oshkosh	All-Stars	All-Stars	All-Stars	All-Stars	All-Stars	All-Stars	All-Stars	All-Stars	All-Stars	All-Stars	All-Stars	All-Stars
Pittsburgh	Pirates	Pirates						Raiders
Richmond	King Clothiers
Rochester									Royals	Royals	Royals
Sheboygan		Red Skins	Red Skins	Red Skins	Red Skins	Red Skins	Red Skins	Red Skins	Red Skins	Red Skins	Red Skins	Red Skins
Syracuse										Nationals	Nationals	Nationals
Toledo					Jim White Chevrolets	Jim White Chevrolets				Jeeps	Jeeps
Tri-Cities										Blackhawks	Blackhawks	Blackhawks
Warren	Penns	Penns
Waterloo												Hawks
Whiting	Ciesar All-Americans
Youngstown									Bears	Bears

About the Table

The NBL included company-sponsored clubs, independent professional teams and franchises that frequently relocated or changed names. This explains why several cities appear for only one season while others, such as Oshkosh and Sheboygan, remained in the league for many years.

The Oshkosh All-Stars were the only club represented in every NBL season from 1937-38 through the league's final season in 1948-49.

Several NBL organizations eventually became part of the NBA, including the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, Syracuse Nationals and Tri-Cities Blackhawks.

NBL History NBL Teams Teams by Year